SexyTalon wrote:If it walks like a person, talks like a person, and tastes like a person, it's probably a person. Or I Can't Believe It's Not People, which cannibals prefer to Soylent Green nearly 5 to 1 in a blind taste test.

The DecemberistsGaslight AnthemPhoenixVampire WeekendThe Postal ServiceWilcoWeezerThe Hold SteadyBroken BellsBob Dylan/Neil Young/Rolling Stones/Springsteen/The Eagles (This is basically just all of my old music that I put on shuffle, so I am calling it a tie)

RadioheadMovits!ToolCage The ElephantAlice in ChainsLed ZeppelinSystem of a DownCCRThe BeatlesJohnny Cash

A few of those just barely made the list (they're tied with some others in my mind). Also there's maybe 5 bands in the world whose songs I actually like all of. In all I'd say I have about 15 favorite artists/bands.

The rest in any order:Tom LehrerPink FloydToolAny band associated with DJ Dangermouse (Gnarls Barkley, DangerDoom, the Grey Album, etc.)Emerson, Lake, and PalmerThem Crooked VulturesBen FoldsLCD SoundsystemTV on the Radio

A highly nerdy note: There's an ambiguity in lists like this as to whether one is talking about the average quality or the integrated quality of an artist (or some combination of the two). For example, in my opinion Pink Floyd has made a lot of very good music over the years, so their integrated quality is rather high. But that good music is spread over a large number of albums, some of which I don't care for at all, so their average quality is significantly lower. Similarly, the Beach Boys' average quality is brought way down by a lot of fairly abysmal stuff from the '70s and '80s. On the other hand, a group like Blind Faith, who only made one album, has a much higher average quality than Pink Floyd or the Beach Boys (because that one album is excellent), but a much lower integrated quality (because, after all, it's only one album). My list is something of a compromise between these two metrics.

The PretendersThe ClashOasisThe VerveThe PixiesThe CureGarbageThe SmithsThe Rolling Stones (some will argue that they're overrated - I wouldn't necessarily disagree that they've been given more attention than they're due, perhaps, but they're a damn good band regardless)Depeche Mode

Limiting it to 10 is kind of hard, and it changes somewhat frequently, 5 years ago, Imogen Heap, Tegan & Sara, and The Glitch Mob wouldn't have been on this list. My top 3 isn't changing (probably ever), and the next 2 after that probably aren't any time soon.

Hmm... We can to complete some interesting sociological work! As you all can see, very often people favorite artists are Queen, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and other "old-school" bands! I can put all these information in a stats, and we'll see - who are the best in common opinion.